


It’s Written in My Bones, Painted on My Skin

by QueerIsHere



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Artist Peter Parker, Cute Peter Parker, Cute Wade Wilson, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mainly Season 2 because that’s my favorite season, Multi, Peter is a good boy, Precious Peter Parker, SO, Severely unedited so, also have some pure Harry/Peter, and MJ/Peter, based on the tv show Skin Wars, be warned, because I said so, body painting, good boys, i dont know if ill continue this but ill damn well try, im still thinking, okay, skin wars, why not treat myself tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 23:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueerIsHere/pseuds/QueerIsHere
Summary: Peter loves painting. He’s loved it since he began his freshman year of highschool. So with hospital bills and student bills piling up, what better way was there to utilize his passion for art than to enter the biggest body painting show in the country ( and possibly the world)?ORThe one where Peter paints, is a dork with his friends, and finds love, betrayal, and friendship in the most unlikely people.





	It’s Written in My Bones, Painted on My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I’ll make this quick but I binge-watched Skin Wars over the course of two days and have been working on this chapter for the past week. I broke my record word count for one chapter by like a thousand words so I’m hella proud of myself! Uh this chapter goes pretty slow and focuses mainly on the behind the scenes aspect of the competition. Also, you probably need to have the reading level of a kindergartener to read this lmfao good luck

  Peter arrived at the sight of the his home for the next 10 weeks with only one thing on his mind:  _ fuck, I left my glasses at May’s. _

 

Just to be sure though, he crouched down in front of his suitcases and searched every single pocket before sighing in defeat. Not that he needed them anyways but… it was a comfort thing. Now he was probably going to look and feel like a big ball of nerves while painting on national television. Maybe he could call Aunt May and see if she could mail them out to him. He sat there in contemplation for a moment before he heard someone call his name.

 

Someone weirdly familiar…

 

“Peter?! Peter Benjamin Parker is that you?!” Peter’s head whipped around and saw the one and only Harry Osborn, someone he hadn’t seen since in person since he got out of high school.

 

He stood up, smiling widely and opened his arms as his best friend crashed right into him, “Harry? Dude, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Europe! More importantly, why didn’t you tell me when I told you??”

 

Harry pulled away so that they were arms length from each other and shrugged with a shit-eating grin, “I wanted to surprise you.”

 

“Well,” Peter laughed, feeling his initial anxiety dissipate, leaving him feeling bright and airy. “You’ve certainly accomplished that! Christ, man, look at you! You’re here!”

 

“I’m here!” Harry grinned and hugged Peter once more before going back and getting his dropped bags. “Fuck, dude I have so much to tell you! I found out I was coming on the show literally a day after you texted me half a thousand times screaming about your own acceptance.”

 

“What?? No way! That’s so crazy, Harry!” Peter grabbed his own luggage and dragged it as they walked inside. “Shoot I didn’t even know you applied!” He pouted, looking at his best friend offendedly, “I’m still mad at you for not telling though. Now we have to compete against each other, Hare! That’s not fair at all!”

 

“Because you know I’ll win?” The shit-eating grin was back.

 

Peter rolled his eyes and bumped shoulders with him playfully, “Because I love you too much to hold back! I’m gonna kick your ass to get you back for being so sneaky!”

 

Harry laughed loudly, “You’re on, Parker!”

 

“Gentlemen,” the person at the front desk stood up with all smiles. They looked kind of famili-Oh God that was Pepper Potts. Peter nearly forgot that she hosted the show. The woman’s teeth were nothing short of blinding, “Welcome!” She walked up to Peter and held out her hand to shake, “Peter, right?”

 

He flushed and nodded, not yet ready for the attention, “Uh, y-yes Ms. Potts. That’s me alright. At least, last I checked.”

 

“You’re funny, kid,” Pepper winked at him and turned to Harry to shake his hand as well. “Come this way, I’ll show you to the living room and when everyone gets here you can start picking your rooms to sleep.”

 

They reached the den and found 3 of the 6 artists already there. With Harry and him there, they were just missing one more person. Being the charming personality that would have been the head of Oscorp had he not pursued his passion for art, Harry dragged Peter along with him to introduce themselves to their competition. 

 

The first one they met was a good-looking woman with short blonde hair in black skinny jeans and a cream and black polka dot blouse. She introduced herself as Natasha Romanov and nothing else but Peter was able to recognize her as last year’s champion of the World Bodypainting Festival in Austria. Being known for her precise linework and proportioning, Natasha would definitely be a tough opponent to beat.

 

“And you are?” She asked him, observing him with a critical eye.

 

“I’m Pet-” Harry interrupted him.

 

“This right here is the best damn painter on the eastern seaboard, next to me of course. Peter Parker? Ring any bells?” Peter wanted to die. Harry always had the tendency to exaggerate.

 

The woman cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, “No.”

 

Harry nodded, “Fair enough. His social media presence is abysmal if anything so that’s not too much of a surprise.”

 

Peter looked at his friend in utter betrayal, “I’m getting better…” He defended himself weakly.

 

“Sure, sweetheart. What’s your follower count right now on Twitter?”

 

Avoiding eye-contact, Peter mumbled a sad, “87.” And wandered off to introduce himself to the other competitors.

 

Next was another blonde girl with bangs and her hair pulled into a ponytail. She had a pair of fashionable, clunky glasses settled on her freckled nose. She wore a cute black, floral dress and a pair of flats with some more flowers settled at the tips of them. Overall, Peter could definitely get behind her fashion sense.

 

“Hi! I’m Gwen Stacy!” She exclaimed and winced at her own volume. He’d never heard of her before, “Sorry, I’m nervous. I mean- I’m not nervous I’m just excited but also scared- I mean,” She sighed and rolled her blue eyes exasperatedly and smiled at him sheepishly. Peter trusted her instantly.

 

“No worries, if anything I’m feeling the same way but amplified 10 times,” Peter replied, eyes crinkling with humor. “That probably wasn’t a smart move telling that to my competition but whatever. You only live once right?”

 

She giggled at this, “Did you basically just say ‘YOLO?’ Please don’t tell me you’re one of those douches from 2012.”

 

“Nah, the douche here is my friend, Harry, over there,” Peter ignored the offended ‘Hey!’ thrown in his direction. “That saying has gotten so much of a bad rep over the years. Understandably of course, but it’s still something I live by very closely.”

 

Gwen hummed and shrugged, “That’s true. I guess as long as you don’t mean it in the way like it’s trying to justify you doing stupid things.”

 

“Yikes, no way.”

 

“Yo, Parker,” someone called his name. Peter turned and saw his old highschool sweetheart, Mary Jane, sauntering inside. 

 

His face broke out into a bright smile, “MJ! Jesus Christ! Why don’t my friends tell me anything??”

 

She shrugged and smirked slightly before going up and giving him a one armed hug, “Harry didn’t tell you?”

 

Peter glared at Harry and huffed out an angry breath, “He definitely did not. He told you?? Harry! You traitor!”

 

“Dude, it’s no big deal. I just wanted you to be surprised is all,” Harry positively simpered.

 

“Again!? As if you being here wasn’t enough??”

 

“I’m sorry, do  _ all  _ of you people know each other?” Natasha asked incredulously.

 

“I don’t.” The other man in the room who was sitting on the couch remarked. Taking a moment, Peter’s eyes scanned the orange rock-like texture of his skin, noting that the guy was indeed, not wearing a shirt. “The name’s Ben, but you guys can call me Thing.” Peter felt small twinge in his heart at the name but greeted the man all the same.

 

“Nice to meet you, Ben! That’s my middle name,” Peter nodded to him shyly. Harry and MJ glanced over at him warily as if preparing for him to break down or something but he just winked back at them to let them know he was okay. His friends introduced themselves to the rest of the group as well.

 

“How old are you guys exactly? I’m 22,” Gwen asked, eyes twinkling curiously like a star in the day.

 

“Peter, MJ, and I are all 19. I’m the oldest by a month,” Harry answered pleasantly. He was always one for conversation.

 

“I’m 27,” Natasha said.

 

“25,” Thing stated.

 

“Aw so Nat here’s the oldest,” Harry said thoughtfully.

 

“And killin’ it, girl,” Gwen grinned at the woman who smiled a little.

 

“Thanks,” Natasha turned to Peter. “Which of the three of you is the youngest?”

 

Peter raised his hand slightly, almost ashamed, “That would be me. I’m an August baby.”

 

The group aw-ed at him but he just put his hands up in an exaggerated shrug, “I think we can all agree what really matters here though. It isn’t gender, race, sexual orientation, or religion.”

 

MJ looked like she was getting ready to flick him, “What is it. And don’t you dare say horo-”

 

“It’s horoscopes- OW! MJ!” Peter exclaimed, rubbing at his injured forehead while his friend muttered a string of profanities under his breath. “Jeez Louise, I was just kidding.”

 

“Don’t speak to me for the next 3 days.”

 

Gwen giggled a bit but stopped herself, “Shoot, we shouldn’t be doing this. We’re bonding now. It’ll be harder to want to make each other lose.”

 

“That’s the name of the game, sweetheart,” Harry nodded solemnly.

 

“Don’t call me ‘sweetheart.’”

 

“I was jus-”

 

“Alright, painters!” Pepper suddenly entered the room, her flawless blonde hair pulled back into a bun now. (What was with this season and blond people??). “ It’s time to start picking your rooms! When you’re settled, meet back here so that we can play some fun ice breaker games!” She smiled once more before turning back around, texting on her smart phone like mad, probably telling the judges that they were all there.

 

Harry and Peter made eye-contact and bolted down the hallways, looking through every single room until they found the perfect one. They each took a bunch of blankets and settled them on the floor along with a plethora of pillows from around the house and sort of made themselves a fort. MJ knocked and came into their room and Peter swore she rolled her eyes so hard they nearly popped right out of her skull.

 

“You people are  _ grown men _ .”

 

Harry pouted, “We’re still in our teens, excuse us.”

 

“Yeah, MJ. Wanna join?” Peter asked hopefully, batting his long eyelashes at her.

 

She sighed and walked out of the room. Peter could see Harry look a bit disappointed but that all disappeared when she came back with her own pillows and bags.

 

“Let’s fort this bitch up.”

 

They all cheered and worked diligently, stacking chairs and moving the bed so they had a solid place for their covers to settle. By the time they’d finished, Peter thought their fort looked pretty flipping awesome. 

 

“There should be, like, a fort building competition,” said Harry absentmindedly as he lied down next to Peter.

 

“True.”

 

“I second that.”

 

Someone else knocked on their room door and in entered Thing who took one good look at them and snorted, “Come back to the living room. We’ve been waiting for you guys but of course this was holding you up.”

 

MJ emerged from under the fort and blew her hair from her eyes, “We’ll be out. Sorry we’re all 8 years old.”

 

The guy just waved them off as he walked away and quickly they all scrambled after him. 

 

—

 

Soon after, they were all sitting in a circle around the living room table playing Truth or Truth. Peter had been trying really hard to pay attention but it started raining outside and the sound was pulling his eyes closed…

 

“Peter!” Gwen shook his shoulder, startling him back awake.

 

“Ah! What! Who died!” He shot up, eyes wide open.

 

Natasha’s eyes softened, “You fell asleep. Didn’t know 19 year olds could  _ get  _ tired at 9 pm.”

 

“I like to sleep a healthy amount, thank you very much,” Peter defended himself, flushing brightly as his opponents laughed.

 

“Yeah, Peter here loves his sleep! He’s definitely turned people down when they’ve asked him to go  _ clubbing _ before,” Harry snickered at his friend’s expense.

 

“What!? How did you- Harry you weren’t even in the same  _ continent  _ as me much less the same college! Where did you get that info…” Peter turned to MJ, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “Traitor 2.0!”

 

She took a sip of her tea but Peter could see her trying to hide her smile, “While this is fun and all, Peter it  _ is  _ your turn right now.”

 

He blinked, “Oh. Who’s asking the question then?”

 

Thing raised his hand, “ I am. Tell me, Peter, what is your darkest secret?”

 

Peter froze and tried to ignore the feeling of his uncle’s cold hands on his shoulder. He laughed good-naturedly but anyone could pick out the pain in his eyes, “That’s a tad bit personal for our first night, haha. Pass?”

 

The man eyed him curiously before asking another question, “How about this… what different types of mediums, aside from paint, do you like to use for your art?”

 

Peter brightened up instantly, “Easy Peasy! I like using digital, watercolor, oil pastels, pencil, charcoal, sculpting-”

 

“He doesn’t go out much, is what he’s trying to say,” Harry nudged him with a smile. “When he’s not studying for his EE and CS exams, he’s holed up in his room doing something else.”

 

“Again.  _ How _ do you know this?”

 

“We Facetime literally every day!”

 

“ _ Still _ , dude.”

 

“Oh shit,” He heard Gwen mutter under her breath. Glancing over, he saw her looking at her phone intently, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She looked up and met his eyes, showing what was on the screen. “This is yours, right?”

 

It was a picture of his winning piece at his high school’s art competition. He was a… sophomore? Maybe? When he made it. Honestly, he had no idea he’d win 1st with a simple piece mixing oil paint with everyday items to give it some texture. Well, he really shouldn’t say simple because it took him a really long time to finish and he worked many late nights trying to figure out how to keep the paint from melting and maintaining its 3D shape. He’d spent a lot of hours piping, scraping, moulding, and building with paint to get to his desired end result. Peter remembered how proud his aunt and uncle were of him when they clapped as he got called up for his award. That feeling of… absoluteness was the word he was going to use. Yes, absoluteness, was something he would never forget. Ever. He creates every single day with the hope that it makes his family proud to call him their own.

 

“Yeah… did you just look me up?” Peter asked.

 

Gwen looked absolutely speechless, not saying anything when Natasha snatched the phone from her and took a look his art with an indifferent expression on her face. “That’s pretty cool,” She remarked, and honestly Peter could not be happier with that.

 

He checked the time once more and saw that it was already 9:45 (you can laugh if you want), “Alright guys, I think I’m gonna hit the hay.” He rose up slowly and said goodnight before shuffling to his room. Peter changed into his pajama shorts and quickly buried himself under the covers, falling fast asleep mid-thought.

 

—

 

If it wasn’t the alarm that woke him up, it was him being cuddled aggressively against Harry’s chest. Dear, God the man could squeeze someone’s breath right out. “Harry,” He wheezed as he batted at his friend’s arm repeatedly. “Wake up, dude! I’m suffocating over here!”

 

“I’m awake. I’m awake. If you were really suffocating you wouldn’t be talking right now,” Harry mumbled into Peter’s hair but reluctantly let go of the natural space heater. 

 

Peter took a couple dramatic breaths and said, “Isn’t that what that one teacher said to her student as she sat on him before he died of asphyxiation a few years ago?”

 

“Well, now I’m saying it, so there.”

 

“You’re such a weirdo. Why were you trying to crack my spine just now?”

 

“It got cold,” Harry whined childishly and made grabby hands at Peter. “Now get over here, I’m freezing.” He then suddenly yelped in shock and when Peter looked over he saw a tuft of MJ’s hair still visible from underneath the blanket.

 

“Shut. Up.”

 

“Why are your feet freezing?” Harry whisper yelled in horror. “You have  _ socks  _ on!”

 

“Harry Osborn I swear to god if you don’t shut your mouth this fucking second I will rip your tongue out and stick it so far up your ass you won’t know what’s gay and what’s straight anymore.”

 

Peter looked at Harry with wide eyes, “Dude, that didn’t even make  _ sense  _ and yet I’m  _ still  _ fearing for your life. How does she  _ do  _ that?”

 

“That goes for you too, Parker.” That made him snap his mouth shut and lay in silence next to Harry who shivered and inched closer to Peter.

 

They only got a few minutes of untouched silence before all three of their alarm clocks began blaring in unison. MJ jerked from her comfortable position to a ready crouch, rage written cleary on her face, eyes blazing. “Fucking hell!”

 

Peter saw Harry smirk a bit before getting up to get ready. He rummaged through the drawers in his designated dresser and gathered that day’s outfit and showering necessities before racing to the bathroom, Harry close behind.

 

“Don’t fucking do this, Parker! You know I need first dibs on the mirror! This hair isn’t beautifully messy for nothing!” He shouted from a few feet back.

 

Peter arrived in the bathroom and slammed the door shut, a fit of giggles bursting in his body, “Sorry, Harry, I just need a couple minutes in and out of the shower. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”

 

“Then stop pushing against it and let me in,” Harry’s reply came out muffled.

 

Peter did so and took great pleasure at witnessing the intense dissatisfaction on Harry’s face. He hopped in the shower, shut the curtain, and took off his clothes before turning on the water, yelping when it came out piping hot. He heard the telltale signs of the toilet flushing, “Dammit, Harry! I gave you your mirror time!”

 

“Sorry, Pete that was an accident!” His friend said in an innocent tone that told him that it was definitely not an accident.

 

“Can’t trust anybody here. Not even your friends,” Peter muttered to himself as he scrubbed his hair with his shampoo.

 

—

 

After fighting Harry for a good spot at the mirror for like ten minutes, all 6 contestants made their way to the bus that would take them to the site of their competition.

 

“I’m excited,” MJ revealed rather bluntly from her seat next to Harry. Peter sat right behind while Natasha, Gwen, and Thing rode solo. 

 

“Really? Are you just mistaking that nervous energy for something more positive, dear?” Harry asked, receiving a good old elbow to the gut.

 

“Don’t call me ‘dear’, Harry. And no, I’ve been looking forward to this for a while so I’m more excited if anything.”

 

“That’s good for you, MJ. Meanwhile, my anxiety’s decided to get off it’s ass and start working,” Peter bemoaned, thunking his head against the window once. “Why did I think this was a good idea? Why did I send in my application in the first place? I did this. I did this to myself.”

 

“Deep breaths, Parker,” The Thing consoled from the seat behind him, the place where his eyebrows would have been was scrunched together. “We’re almost there. Honestly, being on tv isn’t that bad. Right now, all you have to is go up there, paint like you’ve never painted before, and lose so that I may get the prize money.”

 

“One million dollars,” Gwen Stacy sighed in longing.

 

“Shut up. We’re here,” Natasha informed, her game face 150% on.

 

As the unboarded the bus, saying their thanks to the bus driver who seemed pleasantly surprised by their kindness, they saw Pepper Potts standing at the entrance of the studio all sunny smiles and glowy skin.

 

“Welcome contestants! Quickly we’re going to make our way to the art studio where you will meet this year’s esteemed judges!” They gave a big whoop at that and followed her closely, listening intently as she pointed out all possible emergency exits, bathrooms, etc before they reached the studio. Pepper said her goodbyes and went to grab the judges.

 

Walking inside, Peter was instantly taken aback with how much paint there was. Probably hundreds of bottles of good quality paint, both water-based and alcohol-based from what he could see, and like,  _ thousands _ of paint brushes and sponges. Peter saw the rack of shining, silver airbrushes and felt his fingers twitch with the need to trace their smooth exterior and just  _ use  _ them.

  
  


“Those airbrushes are really nice,” Gwen agreed as she saw Peter practically drooling over them. “Look, they put our names on each desk so we know which one’s ours!”

 

Sure enough, there were little slips of paper with each of their names elegantly scrawled onto them. His station was settled right in front of Natasha’s while MJ’s and Harry’s was on the other side of the room.

 

“They’re pretty well stocked for a show,” Harry noted aloud. “Nothing like back home but, it’ll do.”

 

MJ scoffed, “Oh yeah, I forgot you’re little Mr. Rich Boy. Why are you even in this competition Harry, you’re basically a billionaire.”

 

Peter saw Harry get red in the face and interjected before anything escalated, “MJ that wasn’t not nice at all. You know as well as I do that Harry had every right to be in this competition, money or not.”

 

She rolled her eyes, “I know you dweeb. I’m just poking fun. You know, spice this up a bit.” Harry chuckled at this and squeezed Peter’s arm in thanks.

 

Suddenly, Pepper came back with two people in tow. Peter instantly recognized them and felt his heart flutter like crazy.  _ Those are my idols standing not 10 feet in front of me! _

 

“Hello, painters!” She greeted and turned to the doorway, “Welcome to Season 4 of Skin Wars!” They cheered and clapped at that, all feeling the same growing sense of excitement. “In this show, our goal is to to expose the world to the astonishing art that is body painting! Last season’s contestants raised the bar, we expect all 6 of you to raise it higher. As elite artists you’ve shown that you have the talent to be here. But to win, you’re going to have to impress our revered judges. You’ve seen his work in national magazines, commercials, films, and more. Please welcome national champion body painter, Steve Rogers!”

 

Peter clapped so much his hands hurt and felt himself almost faint when Steve smiled at the group, “What a great looking group!” Cue more cheering. “I wish you luck and creativity because you’re gonna need ‘em both to win here.”

 

Pepper moved on to the other judge, “She’s a pioneer in the world of body painting, being the first woman to actually win the World Body Painting Festival in Austria. She’s an immigrant, an artist, and an entrepreneur, please give it up for Diana Prince!” Peter cheered loudly for her. What an icon.

 

The brunette woman smiled widely at them, “I cannot wait to see what all of you create here!”

 

“And finally, please welcome—er…” Pepper looked around a bit flustered before turning to Steve and Diana, “Where’s Tony?”

 

Steve looked at her incredulously, “I thought he was with you!”

 

The lights went dark all of the sudden, making Peter nearly jump out of his socks. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Gwen standing on the other side of him, also looking (from what he could make out) a bit worried.

 

Then came the booming voice.

 

“The one you’re looking for— and really matters— is right here!” A spotlight turned on a suddenly there was a man with sunglasses who wore a black ACDC t-shirt and acid-washed jeans.  _ Oh my god, is that- _

 

Pepper looked like she was going to strangle him, “Tony Stark everybody!” She marched over to the light switch and turned everything back on.

 

“Aw, Pepper don’t be like that! I was just having a bit of fun! Come on, let’s hear the introduction you worked so hard on for me,” Tony bargained with his fiancé, kissing her on the cheek. 

 

It was obvious that she was trying to stay mad but eventually caved, “Please welcome, World Champion Master Body Painter— and my future husband— Tony Stark!”

 

Peter’s jaw literally could not be anymore open. He turned to Harry who’s eyebrows were moved way up his forehead. The rest of the contestants looked equally in awe, save for Natasha and MJ, who decided to keep it cool with some polite applause.

 

“Painters,” Pepper started up again. “The winner of ‘Skin Wars’ gets an all-expense-paid trip for two to the World Bodypainting Festival in Austria-” She was interrupted by Harry cheering. “Where you will compete side-by-side with the greatest professional body painters on the planet!”

 

“I want that,” Peter said suddenly, looking at Harry. “I want that so bad.”

 

“That’s not all! Royal & Langnickel will create a custom brush collection with your name on it. Oh- and the winner will also receive  _ one million dollars!”  _ They all hurrahed at that. One million dollars could change all of their lives for the better. “It’s time for your first challenge! To start off, we want to learn a little bit about you,” She gestured to a pinwheel that Peter didn’t even notice. “On this wheel are some defining moments of our lives. I will spin the wheel for each of you, and where it lands will be the inspiration for your first body-paint challenge.”

 

Peter looked at all of the choices and read ‘Biggest passion’, ‘Love of your life’, ‘Favorite song’, ‘Favorite childhood memory’, and ‘Greatest achievement’. Personally, he wanted the ‘Favorite childhood memory’ one, but the likelihood that he’d actually get it was 1 in 6. He could already tell that Harry would be gunning for ‘Biggest Passion’ and MJ the ‘Favorite song’ one. All in all, this would be interesting.

 

“Ben-”

 

Thing interjected with a quick, “It’s Thing, Miss.”

 

She corrected herself almost immediately, “Thing.” And spun the wheel. He got ‘Love of your life’, which he seemed to be a bit antsy.

 

“Natasha,” She spun and got ‘Greatest achievement’. The blonde seemed to be satisfied with her topic.

 

“Harry,” He got ‘Biggest Passion’. Somehow. His friend dramatically fell to his knees in utter joy.

 

“Gwen,” The wheel landed on ‘Favorite song’. The girl’s face was unreadable so he nudged and said, “Nice.” To which she just shrugged.

 

“MJ,” She got ‘Love of your life’ and looked a bit miffed at this.

 

“And finally, Peter,” He watched the wheel spin round and round until it finally landed on… ‘Favorite childhood memory’!

 

“Oh nice!” Peter grinned.

 

“Painters, you will be judges on your creativity and design concept, technique, and execution of the challenge. Trust me, you want to do well on this challenge,” Pepper forewarned the competitors. “You will have just three hours to complete your work. That’s the bad news. Good news is you only need to paint your model from the waist up, but it must be front and back. Painters are you ready?!”  _ No.  _

 

“Yeah!” They all exclaimed.

 

Pepper smiled mischievously, “Good, ‘cause your time starts… now!”

 

Quickly everyone began running around, gathering different supplies: paints, brushes, airbrushes, you name it. Peter tried to be careful to not pick too many colors but ended up just giving up and grabbing anything he thought would be useful for the specific scene he wanted to portray. Soon after, their models walked in, all 6 were very attractive and well-built. The one that caught Peter’s eye was one that seemed to be the black sheep of the bunch with heavy scarred reaching from head-to-toe. The model caught his eye and smiled nervously, “You, Peter?”

 

There was a sign with his name on it right on the desk but he decided to give the model the benefit of the doubt and smiled brightly, “That’s me!”

 

The model eyed him warily and began stripping off his robe, wearing nothing but a pair of nude, form fitting briefs. Peter was right before, there was scarring virtually everywhere on the man’s body. For a brief moment he was afraid the uneven texture of the man’s skin might affect the quality of his work but shook off the bitter thought and gestured for the man to have a seat. He began hooking up the desired color he wanted to his airbrush tool quickly, “So what’s your name?”

 

“Wade. Wilson. Wade Winston Wilson,” The man repeated, knee bouncing a bit nervously.

 

“Well, Wade,” Peter took a moment, looking at his new canvas with both a professional and completely unprofessional interest. “It’s very nice to meet you and I hope we get along this season!”

 

Wade almost looked completely blown away before he smiled himself, blue eyes crinkling beautifully, “Nice to meet you too. I’m so glad you didn’t turn out to be an asshole- not that that’s what I expected from you when I first walked in, but I’ve dealt with a lot of people in the past that have refused to work with me because of,” He gestured vaguely to his entire body and an blade of sadness wedged its way into Peter’s heart. “Well, you know.”

 

“I don’t know what kind of artists you've been seeing, Wade,” Peter said and pulled Wade to stand, testing the airbrush on a towel first. “But any artist that walks away from a perfectly good canvas, more so a challenge, is not an artist at all. Arms out, please.” Wade stayed quiet for a moment but did as he was instructed, not even flinching when he felt the cool mist of paint hit his flesh.

 

“You’re not ticklish?” Peter asked idly, trying to make sure his layering was even throughout Wade’s front. 

 

“In some places. The scarring messed with some of my nerves, so…” 

 

“I see. If the paint ever feels too uncomfortable for you just let me know, alright? I can easily just switch brands but since this is water-based you shouldn’t really have any problems,” Peter began using his brush, painting precise lines.

 

His model giggled, making Peter look up curiously, “You hit a ticklish spot. And no problemo, Petey. The paint feels juuuust fine.”

 

“That’s good. Do you want to know what I’m planning on making?”

 

“Sure.”

 

They talked for the rest of the time almost naturally. Wade made it his mission to try to get Peter to laugh even when he was in ‘work-mode’ which suited the younger just fine but he made Wade promise him not to do it towards the end because that’s when Peter really need to get his head in the game. Glancing over, he saw Thing painting what seemed to be an incredibly realistic portrait of a woman sitting by a pond and feeding some swans. Seeing such a large man use such delicate strokes of his paintbrush made Peter’s feel warm. 

 

Harry looked completely in the zone with his own model, Ellie, he thinks her name was, who seemed to be in deep conversation with MJ and her model. Natasha’s piece, from what he could see, was breathtaking, but she stuck with more of a darker palette than he would have thought. He hoped she didn’t get anything off for that.

 

“Eyeing the competition, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater?” Wade asked with a coy grin, breaking Peter out of his trance.

 

Cheeks pinkening adorably, Peter shrugged with a sheepish smile, “Just seeing how many are better than me. A lot are.”

 

Wade’s smile dropped and looked at his other fellow models before shaking his head, “No way, baby boy. You’ve got this in the bag. Not only is this story fucking cute, your art looks amazing. The judges are gonna love it.”

 

Peter brightened up at this and squeezed Wade’s hand carefully, “Thanks! Alright, how much time we got lef- oh jesus, half an hour.” With that his hands began flying, applying color as carefully and precisely as he could.

 

30 minutes later, Pepper walked in with the rest of the judges. One by one they went around the room, examining and talking with the other contestants so by the time the reached Peter he was about ready to duck under a table and never come out. 

 

“Alright Peter, tell us about your piece!” Pepper said, visibly amazed by the colors..

 

“Right. So I had ‘Favorite childhood memory’ and I had to dig a little deep for this one but eventually I remembered the day my aunt and uncle took me to the Pride Parade in New York and I just remember being totally in awe at all of the different colors and faces and the fact that everyone around me seemed to be so happy. It was definitely my favorite experience,” Peter explained, gesturing to various parts of Wade’s body, feeling proud at how well his rendering and blending turned out.

 

“Well, you’ve certainly conveyed that joy,” Steve gestured to picture of the little boy seated on a man’s shoulders holding a rainbow flag. 

 

“And you really left no stone unturned here, you even painted each building and window in their correct place!” Diana marveled.

 

“Nice job, kid,” Was all Tony said but gave him a wink before all of them headed back to the front of the room.

 

“All right, painters, the judges have a lot to talk about so we’ll be back shortly!” Their host explained before leaving with the judges.

 

The models left right after and Peter carefully hugged Wade goodbye. “See you next week, Petey! I look forward to it with bated breath!”

 

“Bye, Wade!”

 

—

 

“I fucked up,” MJ said as they stood waiting in silence. “My paint was cracking and technically speaking, mine looked like it was fingerpainted by a child.”

 

Peter walked over and pulled her close to comfort her, “You’ll be fine, MJ. I saw yours! It was amazing! If anything I’m the one going home.”

 

“Your’s was fucking amazing, Peter, and you know it.”

 

“I mean, we don’t know, until they tell us. If anything you can boost yourself in the next challenge! Not all hope is lost!”

 

“Yeah, MJ, no sweat, you’ll blow their minds next time,” Harry added. “Honestly, my mind is  _ already  _ so blown away. You guys are so talented it’s crazy.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting much from anyone here at the beginning, but I definitely know that I need to watch my back now,” Gwen admitted a bit nervously.

 

“Oh, here they come,” Thing announced, causing them to quiet down as Pepper and the judges walked in.

 

“It’s time to pick the best painting. When I call your name, please step forward,” Pepper announced. “Natasha… Peter… Harry…” They all stepped up, Peter grasped hands with Harry. “You’re the top 3 painters.”

 

Harry shouted and pulled Peter in a big hug before moving to hug Natasha who surprisingly accepted and pulled Peter in as well.

 

“The judges have made their decisions… and the winner is…” They all held their breaths, “Peter.”

 

Eyes going impossibly wide he looked from judge to judge in utter shock, “But… Natasha’s… and Harry’s… wha- how? Why?”

 

“Your attention to fine detail is beyond your years. You painted every single person, every single building, balloons, colors, everything with such care. The fact that you did all of that in such a short amount of time is nothing short of remarkable,” Steve gleamed at Peter, nearly making him melt.

 

“The overall aesthetic was very pleasing to my eye. The juxtaposition of the colors of the signs and the balloons to the buildings really made this piece enjoyable,” Diana commented as well.

 

“Unfortunately, there was a little issue that went on back home so Tony had to run out but he left me a message to tell you that ‘you’re going places’ with a smiley face emoji next to it, so...take with that what you will.” 

 

“Will do,” Peter felt like he was all that much closer to the million dollar prize.

 

“Okay, painters! Are you ready to hear about your next challenge?” Pepper asked enthusiastically and the contestants responded with an elated “Yeah!”

 

“You will draw your inspiration from the ultimate game of skill and strategy—chess. You’ll have five hours tomorrow to create a colorful, 360-degree, head-to-toe design. The top six painters in the first challenge will choose their chess piece and their opponent,” This made Peter glance worriedly at Harry who sent him an evil smirk. “You are going head-to-head. In each team, one will be safe and one will be up for elimination. Peter, you won the first challenge…”

 

“Yeaaah,” Peter replied bashfully.

 

“...which means you get to pick your piece and your opponent first.”

 

“Oh, this’ll be interesting. I guess I pick the pawn since it’s the most underrated chess piece and my opponent will be Thing.” His future opponent nodded cordially at him

 

Harry gasped in shock, “You talked all big at the house but the real brotrayer is you.”

 

Peter shrugged with one shoulder and continued to listen to whom the other contestants picked. Natasha picked the knight and MJ (probably because she thought that was the safest bet) while (unsurprisingly) Harry picked the king and Gwen.

 

“You have your chess pieces so go home and get ready for tomorrow!”

 

—

They arrived at the house and immediately collapsed on the couches in the living room. 

 

“... I need a drink. Who wants in,” Natasha offered as she moved to the kitchen.

 

“I could go for some wine,” Gwen sighed, staring off into space.

 

“I’ll take a whiskey, please,” Thing asked politely but instead was told to go to the kitchen and pour it himself as Natasha settled herself back on a sofa. She nursed two tall glasses of wine and handed one to Gwen who said her thanks and drank two large gulps.

 

Harry eyed the both of them enviously, “God, I wish I could drink, too.”

 

Natasha chuckled into her glass, “Baby wants a bottle?”

 

“Baby could use 10,” MJ groaned, placing her hands over her eyes. “We need to plan for out challenge tomorrow, sketch out designs and such, but I can’t find the energy in me.”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Their fellow competitors drawled out in unison.

 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few more moments before Peter stood up and stretched. “I’d better start working then. I don’t want to be working late into the night.”

 

“For sure. God forbid you stay up until  _ 10 o’clock, _ ” Harry gasped dramatically, receiving a soft glare from Peter who then turned and went into their room.

 

He got out his brand new sketchbook and a his box of colored pencils and lied down in the fort. Opening to the first page, Peter jotted down his chess piece and a list of possible themes he could use in his final project.  _ Okay, so I like the concept of pawns being the most important players in a game since they are the piece that’s least expected to do any real damage. How can we convey that though. _

 

Peter tried his hardest to concentrate, he really did. But ultimately his mind kept wandering to the events that occurred that day. From seeing his old friends to meeting his top three idols in the art world, Peter altogether was beyond ecstatic.  _ Not to mention the model he was assigned was cute _ . HA HA HA NOPE DEFINITELY KEEPING THINGS PROFESSIONAL HERE. HA HA OH GOD HE WAS SO GAY.

 

Wade was… amazing, in the simplest terms. He understood the messages Peter was trying to convey instantly, and even helped him sort through his own thoughts to make better decisions for his art. He encouraged him the entire way through, especially when Peter was doubting his abilities and honestly that meant something to him. It had been a really, really long time since he was fully confident in his work and the fact that Wade got him there was such a sweet thing to do. 

 

_ His body wasn’t too bad as well… DROOL those abs… _

 

Fuck, now he definitely was off topic. Where was he, oh yes. Pawns. Chess. Something completely unsexual.

 

Eventually, MJ and Harry joined him in the room and worked on their ideas as well, bouncing possible motifs and colors off of each other in a way that made it feel like they were all back in highschool.

 

“Picture this.” Harry began, “I’m using the King chess piece so… King Kong.” He got a face full of pillow, courtesy of MJ.

 

“Stay focused. None of the judges up there will appreciate you being a dumbass like the way that we don’t as well.”

 

“Really, feeling the love here. Thanks, Marijuana,” Harry dodged another oncoming pillow and scowled before going back to sketching.

 

“Shut the fuck up, Harry Styles,” MJ glared daggers at him, dragging another pillow into her grasp.

 

“Oh yeah, Michael Jackson!?” Harry exclaimed, piling a little artillery of pillows behind him.

 

“Bring it, Rich Bitch!”

 

Peter couldn’t handle this anymore, “Guys! Stop! We can’t afford to fight like this! Not with so much at stake!”

 

“Stay out of this, Peter-kins. This is a man’s battle to fight,” Harry blocked him from getting in between, not taking his eyes off of his enemy in arms.

 

“Okay,  _ that _ definitely didn’t hurt my self-image. You guys are gonna break the fort!”

 

“That’s the fragile masculinity talking, Patricia.” MJ sneered, “Forts were made for battle! Bring it, Harriet!”

 

“MJ NO!”

 

—

 

Peter arrived the next day with an impressive shiner blossoming right over his left eye. He chose to wear his favorite pair of Ray-Bans over showing the world his injury and who knows, maybe they made him look sort of cool.

 

“Parker… why are you wearing those inside. Put on some foundation or something,” Harry suggested good-naturedly.

 

Peter scoffed, “As if I want to take any advice from you right now after what you did to me last night.”

 

“I  _ said _ I was sorry already! How many times do I have to-”

 

“Ooh, do I sense some bad blood between you two?” Pepper asked as she arrived in the studio.

 

“I-It’s nothing, Pepper! I love your earrings! Did Tony give them to you?” Peter diverted the conversation, flustered.

 

She looked pleasantly surprised by his interest, “He did actually! For my 30th birthday as a matter of fact.”

 

“They look gorgeous! Really brings out your eyes!” Gwen complimented. Peter felt a tinge of annoyance at her blatant butt-kissing but tried to shake it off. This was a competition after all, he had to keep reminding himself.

 

Pepper beamed, “Well, thank you very much. Alright, are we rolling? Great! Painters! We’ll be getting started right away but you’ll have 5 minutes to gather any needed materials before your models come! I will be back later to come around with the judges to examine your progress.” With that she walked away, and every began working.

 

Right on schedule, Wade walked inside looking like he was cut straight out of marble. All defined lines and perfectly cut jawlines, it made Peter wheeze inwardly. 

 

“Hey, Petey-pie. Ready to make me beautiful?” Wade said with a smile, shedding off his robe and revealing his pretty pretty muscles. 

 

Probably looking about as red as he felt, Peter answered with a shy, “Not any more than you already are, Wade.” He took great pleasure in seeing the man’s own cheeks pinkening a little.

 

“Uh. You-Uhm. But-” Wade babbled bashfully.

 

“You wanna know what I’m gonna paint on you today?” Peter asked, saving Wade from further humiliation while beginning to paint a rough outline of his piece.

 

Visibly relaxed, Wade looked at him with a slight sparkle in his eyes that made Peter want to start speaking in tongues as well. “Sure, baby boy. But-uh, just wondering. Why the sunglasses? You got into a fight or something?” He joked.

 

Laughing a bit at himself, Peter took them off, “I guess you could call it that. I got clocked in the face pretty good last night by Harry.”

 

He saw the abdomen muscles before him tense and when he looked up he saw Wade staring at Harry with death in his eyes. “Did he now?” He with false innocence.

 

“Oh, no no no no. It wasn’t like  _ that _ . Sorry, I can see where you might have interpreted that wrong. What I meant was- I mean- there was a pillow fight and I got in the way and before I knew it my face was eating a knuckle sandwich instead of a pillow!” Peter explained.

 

Wade blinked down at him and sighed big, “Fuck, you scared me, baby boy. I thought for sure one of these other guys had given you a hard time. I would have been happy to return the favor, more in the sense that I shove someone’s fist up their ass.”

 

Peter laughed, quickly pulling away his airbrush so that he didn’t mess up any of the crisp lines he’s made. “Sorry to disappoint but no fisting this time.”

 

“Peter what the actual fuck are you talking about,” MJ accused, completely weirded out.

 

“Don’t worry about it, honey. Hey, Ellie! How’s Yukio doing! I haven’t heard from her in a while!” Wade called.

 

Harry’s model peaked back and met Wade’s eyes with a deadpan look, “She’s fine. Stop talking while we’re on the job.”

 

“Yukio’s your girlfriend, right?” MJ asked, voice void of any emotion (except some disappointment).

 

“Yeah. We’re poly though so… still looking for one more,” Ellie replied with a coy smile and turned back to Harry who began painting her face.

 

MJ turned to Peter with wide-eyes, mouthing, “Oh my god!”

 

He gave her a thumbs up in reply, taking a quick moment to glance over at Thing’s pawn painting. Fuck. His concept was very similar to Peter’s. The judges were  _ not  _ going to like that.

 

“That’s fine. No time to change it. Just focus and _paint, Parker_ ,” Peter motivated himself, picking up the pace as the time left continued to dwindle.

 

“You’re doing so great, Peter Pan! Look at me! I’ve got so many colors you could put me next to a gay pride flag and nobody would be able to tell the difference!” Wade complimented enthusiastically.

 

Fuck he was right. Was it  _ too  _ many colors though. He heard Pepper and the rest of the judges enter at the 2 hour mark and waited for them to reach his station with dread.

 

“Alright, Peter! Tell us about your piece so far,” Pepper smiled widely.

 

“Uh, well,” Peter looked at each judge’s face. “Since I had the pawn, I wanted to do something around the topic of being underestimated on terms of worth while also tying in the whole ‘there’s strength in numbers’ kind of deal.”

 

“Now, Peter, did you take the time to look over at Thing’s piece and see that your messages are almost the same as his?” Steve pointed out with the same tone teachers use on misbehaving kids.

 

Peter tried to grin and bear it, “I just noticed but if you look between his and mine, you’ll find that we still have two very different pieces.”

 

“Let’s keep it that way, yes?” Diana nodded and left with the other judges as they said their goodbyes.

 

Letting out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, Peter began to focus on rendering his piece better. He added more detail, highlights, shadows, really anything that would give it more depth and ultimately entice the judges to pick him. Now he was really freaking out. He needed to stay in the game no matter what. Aunt May was depending on him, his future in college...

 

“Hey, baby boy… what do you call a bear with no teeth.” This snapped Peter out of his head.

 

“What?”

 

“Wait for it… a gummy bear,” Wade smiled and laughed at his own joke, making Peter follow his example.

 

Thank God for Wade.

 

—

 

He was airbrushing one of Wade’s calves when Harry called out the 30 minute mark. “Shit, gotta speed things up.”

 

It was safe to say that Peter was more than a little worried that he might be going home. His piece sucked more than Thing’s and he felt like he definitely bit off more than he could chew with the amount of detailing he had to do.

 

Finally, he finished a little early and let Wade sit down carefully on a stool. “Do your legs ache or anything? I can give you some water if you’d like.”

 

“Just a mirror would be sweet. I want to see how rad I look from top to pert bottom,” Wade answered. Peter hurriedly gave him a hand mirror and watched his model’s reaction while fiddling with his hands. “Damn, Petey.” Wade whistled, checking out the art on his chest. “There’s no ‘half-assing’ it with you, is there?”

 

“I’ve got a sick aunt at home, a pile of medical bills, and student loans. I can’t afford to not do my best,” Peter retorted, then remembered that Wade was still bald. “Oh shoot I need to get a wig on you!” He quickly ran to the table of mannequin heads and picked a nice white one. “It’s a good thing you’re already hairless. I have such a hard time with bald caps, it’s not even funny.”

 

“Not that I don’t like talking about how I look like the equivalent of Caillou but what was that before? Is that your reason for being on the show?” Wade asked quietly, helpfully leaning his head forward so Peter could place the wig on him.

 

He braided some strands and began dabbing on some lipstick onto Wade’s mouth. “Oh… yeah. I mean it’s fine, we’ve been getting by but you know… being alive is expensive. The money would seriously help us out and that way I can finally quit two of my three jobs and finally focus more on my studies and art.”

 

“I see… I’m happy to know my Petey’s so responsible back home. Can I ask what the hospital bills were for?”

 

Peter took a finger and smudged the lipstick across Wade’s cheek, taking a moment to see if it fit and nodded happily, “Oh that color’s nice on you. It’s called Scarlet’s Web from the L.I.P line, if you’re interested.”

 

“Cool, changing the topic to avoid the question. I see you, baby boy, and I respect your boundaries,” Wade made a little kissy face at Peter who smiled a little back, nearly jumping when Pepper arrived to call time’s up.

 

“Times up, tools down! Wow!” She exclaimed as she looked at all of the models. “The judges are very excited to see your work! Painters, models, follow me.” 

 

Peter took one last look at his painting before exiting with him side-by-side. Hopefully, things would turn out fine. They had to.

 

—

 

The judges… loved it.

 

Even though a few spots of color weren’t blended in properly. 

 

Even though he had the same concept as Thing.

 

Their eyes still went wide when Wade stepped onto the runway, strutting like he knew he was a queen while his body was littered with pawns. 

 

“And you say you only started body painting the beginning of this year?” Diana asked, eyes not moving at all from Wade. (Who was HOLDING his hand! Which is literally the only thing keeping him from tipping over the edge of insanity)

 

Peter nodded with a slight jerk of his head, “That’s right.” He saw the flash of amazement pass over the judges’ faces and panicked a bit, “I mean I’ve been painting since I was 14 so it’s not like I had no experience with this kind of stuff before.” Wade squeezed his hand in reassurance.

 

Steve was about to say something but was cut off by Tony standing, “Listen, Peter, I get that you’re trying to be all humble and stuff right now but please just take our praise, okay?” Peter looked at Wade, utterly dumbstruck. “You have a gift. Embrace it. You made something pretty amazing tonight. Celebrate that. Boom.” Tony did a mock mic drop and flopped back into his chair.

 

Tears fought their way to beginnings of Peter’s eyelids as he smiled, “I will. Thank you very much!”

 

He then walked to the line where the other painters stood, saying a quick goodbye to Wade as he walked off. Harry gave him an inconspicuous fistbump before moving to meet his model down the runway next. 

 

—

 

In the end, it was Natasha who got sent home. Which was such a surprise since her work had been nearly flawless. But the judges didn’t quite see how the message was conveyed through her artwork. 

 

It broke Peter’s heart.

 

Over the course of the couple of days they’d known each other, she’d adopted the ‘big sister’ role of the group. Something Peter never got to experience, being the only child, and honestly he was going to miss it. 

 

She’d always put up a strong forefront but from the television he could see the tears in her eyes and her bittersweet smile. Natasha would go out of the room to find her luggages packed and waiting for her. Soon after, she’d walk out of the studio, saying a quiet goodbye to her model, who was happily washing the sticky paint off his body.

 

And then there were 5.  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Okie dokie! I hope y’all enjoyed this as much as I did! Leave kudos and comments for any shenanigans you want Peter and his friends (and Wade) to get into for the next chapter! Love you guys!


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